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Bhagavad Gita synthesizes Hindu Philosophical themes into a
single thesis comprising eighteen chapters. Gita was compiled by Sage
Vyaasa who was blessed by the Lord to complete this monumental task for
the benefit of humanity. Gita is a comprehensive summary of the profound
philosophical and spiritual ideas expressed in the Upanishads. The main
theme of Gita is to help the human race to understand the Divinity and
reestablish True Human Nature. The Bhagavad Gita stresses the importance
of work obligations and the necessity for their fulfillment. The most
important message of Gita is the assertion that actions are inevitable
and excuses are unforgivable. Bhagavad Gita has guided the life of
Mahatma Gandhi and gave him the moral and spiritual strength during
India's freedom struggle against the British Empire. Gandhi gave the
following tribute to Gita: "I find a solace in the Bhagavad Gita that I
miss even in the Sermon on the Mount. When disappointment stares me in
the face and all alone, I see no one ray of light, I go back to the
Bhagavad Gita. I find a verse here and a verse there and I immediately
begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming tragedies - and my life has
been full of external tragedies - and if they have left no visible, no
indelible scar on me, I owe it all the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita."
M. K. Gandhi, young India (1925), pp. 1078-79.
Dr. Radhakrishnan beautifully elaborates the context of the
dialog that took place between the human intellect (Arjun) and the
universal consciousness (Lord Krishna). "The distress of Arjun is a
dramatization of a perpetually recurring predicament. Man on the
threshold of higher life, feels disappointed with the glamour of the
world and yet illusions cling to him and he cherishes them. He forgets
his divine ancestry and becomes attached to his personality and is
agitated by the conflicting forces of the world. Before he wakes up to
the world of spirit and accepts the obligations imposed by it, he has to
fight the enemies of selfishness and stupidity, and overcome the dark
ignorance of his self- centered ego. It is the evolution of the human
soul that is portrayed here. There are no limits of time and space to
it. The fight takes place every moment in the soul of man," (The
Bhagavad Gita, S.Radhakrishnan, Published by Blackie & Son Publishers
Pvt. Ltd. Bombay, India, page 95, second paragraph )
Bhagavad Gita uses a subtle dialog between the intellect and
consciousness to educate the value and purpose of human life. The
essence of Gita is to emphasize the importance of preparing our mind and
soul to accept all obligations without hesitation and without expecting
rewards. The subtle message of Gita is to point out that the world is an
infinite dimensional matrix with a row of actors and a column of actions
and every actor interacts with every action and vice-versa. The human
perception is not equipped to understand and judge the results of such
interactions and identify the contributors and their contributions.
Consequently, everyone erroneously perceives the roles and their
importance and their consequences. These impressions are the cause for
the plurality and the illusory likes and dislikes, good and bad, pain and
pleasure and right and wrong.
Swami Dayananda of Arsha Vidya Gurukulam illustrates the
distinction between human perception and divine perception using a
thought-provoking example. The divine perception of a banana is always a
banana. But human perception creates likes and dislikes for a banana.
Some of us may say, "I like banana". Others may say, "I hate banana."
This creation likes and dislikes are the result of sensory perceptions.
The creator has intention for this creation of impressions and images.
The human imagination multiplies the divine creation with additional
notions including likes, dislikes, tall, short, sweet, rotten, etc. If
and when human perception reaches the level of Divine perception the
plurality disappears from the mind and inner peace reappears and stays.
Gita guides us to understand and avoid the dangers of the sensory
perceptions and the importance of gaining the True Human Nature.
Gita identifies the person with the True Human Nature with a
Sanskrit title, ‘Sthitaprajna.' The seeker of the TRUTH Arjun begins his
enquiry directly to the Divinity (Lord Krishna) with the question: " What
is the description of the man who has this firmly founded wisdom, whose
being is steadfast in spirit, O Krishna? How should the man of settled
intelligence speak, how should he sit, how should he walk?" (Gita,
chapter 2 and verse 54). The verses 55 to 72 in chapter 2 discusses the
virtues of Stitaprajna in greater details. The dialog between the human
and divine continues in question and answer sessions until it ends in
chapter 18. At the end of the long dialog, the Lord asks Arjun whether
his ignorance is dispelled? (Gita: Chapter 18, Verse 72 ). Arjun
replies that he has regained his wisdom and True Human Nature (Gita,
Chapter 18, Verse 73). This is the last verse of the dialog between Arjun
and Lord Krishna.
According to Gita, Sthitaprajna attains the Universal Wisdom of
Eternal Peace by abandoning the illusory pain and sufferings. The Lord
insists that eternal peace, happiness, discriminating intelligence and
concentration can be realized only by freeing the mind from sensory
perceptions. Gita does not claim that the task is easy and it gives
complete guidance for achieving the True Human Nature in chapters two to
18. Gita asserts that it is achievable for everyone who is willing to
take the necessary efforts, discipline and dedication. The Grace of God
always comes with true dedication, discipline and devotion. In Gita,
action is much more important than prayer and expression of Bhakti come
through the completion of obligations. The only reward for the action is
action itself! For a devotee, the action is the prayer and action becomes
the prasad (inner peace) of God. The Grace of God is our life, our
actions and the results of those actions!
Gita describes the relationships between sensory perception, ego,
human intelligence and divine intelligence. According to Gita, the
sensory perceptions are the barriers for gaining the divine intelligence.
Ego is the byproduct of sensory perception. Ego distracts human
intelligence to lose its discriminating power. Consequently the intellect
misidentifies SELF by body, mind and intellect. The distractions and
misconceptions can be eradicated only through spiritual practice
(sadhana) outlined in Gita. Those who follow the spiritual life
understand their obligation and perform their role without anticipating
rewards. They respect the role of every living and nonliving entity of
the world and recognize their value and contributions. Gita implicitly
wants all of us to understand that the world is much more than what we
see, hear, touch and feel!
Sthitaprajna perceives the world without conflicts and sorrows
and accepts the world as it is! For such persons the world is always
perfect and they always recognize that should be prepared to change their
attitude according to the needs of the world. Mahatma Gandhi once said,
"The only change that the world needs, is you!" For a sthitaprajna like
Gandhi, the "attitude" of the perceiver is more important than the
perceived object. The attitude determines the outcome, those with
positive mental attitudes succeed and those with negative mental
attitudes become miserable and fail. Successful lawyers, doctors,
political leaders and corporate executives know this secret mantra for
success. Gita implicitly advises that we should develop positive mental
attitude and keep our eyes, ears and mind completely open by negating all
preconceived notions.
Every verse in Gita contains a compelling message and certain
message is often repeated to highlight a theme or to display its
significance. Divinity is beyond time and humanity is ever bounded by
time! As a human, I have the privilege to make mistakes and let me use
my limited intelligence to choose a selective group of few verses for the
discussion. I will try my level best to keep the discussion of the
verses to the bare minimum. Readers can get more extensive commentaries
from references at the end.
The cause for the dialog between the human and the divine is
summarized in verse 47 of chapter 1. Vyaasa describes the helplessness
of Arjun while his mind is seized by emotion, ego, ignorance and
stupidity. The human Arjun is overwhelmed by emotion and self-pity and
collapses on the seat of his chariot. He throws down his bow, arrow and
dignity. Momentarily, the pervading True Human Natures withdraws from
his SELF and the body, mind and intellect takes full control over Arjun.
Ignorance, selfishness, self-centered ego, emotion and stupidity take
over his personality. These external forces influence him to neglect his
obligation to fight the war. Suddenly, a flash of light from his
subconscious mind comes for his rescue to detach him from his ego. He
prepares to surrender his ego and looks for help. This is the moment of
TRUTH and the Divinity stands right before him and is always ready to
help. (to be continued)
P.S. Please give me a couple of weeks to present part II. Till
then, I am looking forward to your comments and further insights.
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